- Pope Francis opened the way last week for the beatification of Lyonnaise Pauline Jaricot.
- This layman, born in the 19th century and from an affluent background, radically changed her life to serve the most disadvantaged.
- Missionary, she embodies one of the leading figures of social Catholicism.
Coming from Catholic circles, his name remains relatively unknown. Even in Lyon, the city where it was born. Pauline Jaricot will be beatified by Pope Francis. The announcement was made a few days ago. For the moment, the date has not been fixed but the event could occur during the year 2021.
The opportunity to reflect on the journey of this lay person who has radically changed her life to devote herself to the most needy. A woman raised in a well-to-do social environment but in “the culture of humility and charity”. An activist from before time who has been involved in all the battles, driven by a deep-rooted faith. "He is a beautiful figure who speaks to many and to all ages," sums up Archbishop Georges Colomb, bishop of La Rochelle, director of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
Life change at 17
Born in 1799 into a silky family, Pauline Jaricot (whose house is visited in Lyon) will have a revelation seventeen years later after a preach on vanity, delivered during a Mass celebrated in the Saint-Nizier church. “Flirtatious adolescent and socialite, she was seduced by the illusions of the world. But that day, she will change everything. She will make the decision to abandon anything that might be superficial, ”says the archbishop.
She leaves her jewelry, abandons her beautiful toilets to simply dress like her father's workers. She turns to others. Marries the cause of the canuts, forced to look into their Jacquart looms 19 hours a day. She works to visit the poor, the prisoners in the prisons, to care for the sick, to take in street children. She supports prostitutes who walk the rue Mercière, hires them in the Saint-Vallier factory run by her brother-in-law. She created “La Banque du Ciel”, a free loan work to help workers. She bought a foundry in the Vaucluse which she aspired to transform into a model factory where the employees would be paid generously. A pioneer in her time.
A very contemporary figure
Throughout her life, Pauline Jaricot will evangelize in her own way, without ever giving up her secular state. And by emulating all over the world. “At the end of her life, the Living Rosary that she launched [prayer chain] had more than 2.2 million subscribers. It is quite incredible because the media coverage was not the same and social networks did not exist ", recalls smiling Georges Colomb.
“Pauline Jaricot is a woman who had a very broad and astonishing vision. She has embraced all the misfortunes of her time with this goal of getting people back on their feet. It is driven by the desire to restore dignity to people. Her social commitment is really the consequence of her faith, "sums up Gaëtan Boucharlat de Chazotte, vice-president of the association of friends of Pauline-Jaricot, who sees in her a" model "," a figure that remains current. "
“Pauline Jaricot lived in a period of great upheaval. The country was in the midst of a revolution. The Church was flat. There were no more priests in the parishes. Spiritual life had collapsed and everything had to be rebuilt. There are parallels between his time and that of today, ”he observes. “The crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic now raises questions about how to travel, practice tourism, live differently. The figure of Pauline Jaricot can certainly inspire many people who wonder about superficiality, ”concludes Bishop Colomb.
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